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Brian Reed

Brian Reed first came to This American Life as an intern, and rejoined our staff as a producer in October 2011. In the interim he was a producer at StoryCorps. Brian also reported and produced stories for NPR as a Kroc Fellow and as their first Above the Fray Fellow.

Senior Producer Brian Reed tells Ira about a book entitled “Now I Know Better,” where children write cautionary tales recounting horrific accidents they’ve endured. He also interviews one of the book’s contributors about his childhood mishap.

In 2008, the Milwaukee Police Department, which has a long history of tension with black residents, got a new chief named Ed Flynn. One of his big goals when he came to the city was to try and improve the relationship between cops and black Milwaukeeans.

Several producers talked about the first stories they ever heard on the show, before they worked here. Former producer Jonathan Goldstein, now host of WireTap, remembers the prologue to episode 27: The Cruelty of Children: Then producer Brian Reed talks about the first time he heard the show, when Ira spoke at his college and played a story by Jack Hitt from episode 188: Kid Logic: Alex Blumberg talks about an early story by Adam Davidson, Alex's current colleague at Planet Money, from episode 94: How To.